Shifted bridge, short-scale 'tele'

Nice to find someone else based in the UK and that sprays waterbased. I used Morrells for quite some time but found it too brittle when assembling so moved to Mohawk/Behlens but they have now stopped exporting, so I too am using GF. I have both the HP and the Enduro-var. The latter I havent used as yet.

I spray at around 34-40 (i need to double check this) psi at the compressor and use a Devilbiss SRI Pro Lite with a 1mm needle, One issue i have and you may too is keeping the gun and needle clean, waterbased clogs the gun quite quickly so i clean the gun out after every coat.

I too struggle to see what I'm doing from time to time. I have 3-4 spotlights above the work shining down and other lights on in the shop, but i cant seem to get them spot on for when im spraying. I'm going to install some sideways lights too in the hope this makes it better.

I do between 12-14 coats (thats once over the whole thing) and then let cure for 3-4 weeks before wetsanding. I have found recently, dont leave too long between spraying sessions as you can get witness lines between coats, and scuff sand between every 2-3 to aid adhesion.

I'm itching to give nitro a go, but i have no where to spray it and the weather outside is not conducive with spraying guitars.

Click to expand...

Hi Lokkochaa, good to hear from another local!

I've found a headtorch (and all the workshop lights switched off) works really well for the body, I can pretty much see everything as it goes on. The neck though I'm still finding it hard to see what I'm doing, I guess because it's pretty much all curved surface.

Glad to hear you're also using HP. I'm using HVLP so pressures are different, but like you I've found HP to be pretty forgiving - I don't think I've ever had witness lines. I've never done a gloss finish though, satin at most.

I've done grainfill with dark-brown tinted water-based filler (the Stewmac one, can't remember it's name). I've also sprayed a couple of coats of GF Sanding Sealer. I was noticing some fumes in my face mask though so I've shelved it until some new filters arrive. The idea of breating in clouds of whatever awful thing polyurethane is made from does not appeal!

This is where we are, hopefully next week should see some real progress.....

As far as colours go, so far I've not found anything i'm happy with. These were done spraying (mixol) white, then a mixture of Trantint Amber and Crimson Guitars Brown.

Here are two test samples, the first with neutral grain fill....

The next with the dark brown grain fill that I've used on the body....

I like none of them Too too murky brown. I think I need to take the white further. Also given how poor my spray technique is, I need to remember to take it very slow, many subtle coats to avoid streaking.

What I'd like is more of a creamy butterscotch like this:

Which I'm guessing is much more white, much less amber and a touch of brown. I feel as though this fender may also have the amber/brown colour mixed in with the white, rather than it being a white body with tinted clearcoat. I like the satin look rather than high gloss. Anway, back to the drawing board.....

I'm still waiting for the Mixol pigment to arrive, so in the meantime I thought I would make the pickguard template. I'm not sure I've ever seen a build thread including a pickguard-making post, so here's mine in probably more detail than any of you would want. But here goes anyway.....

First up I used the body template to rout the bottom curve. I used a binding router bit which allows bearings of different sizes to be put on the shaft, therefore allowing you to rout a shape, just smaller. So I ended up with this:

Next I retrieved from my template filing system (ok, a pile on the floor) the custom template I had made for the neck joint. It was a simple job to rout the same hole in the pickguard template, ensuring it will match the neck perfectly:

I then made a very simple jig from a straight edge and a couple of pieces of scrap to rout out the indentation by the bridge:

The upper curve of the pickguard template was more of a problem. The curve is compound and doesn't follow the curve of the body. Guitar shapes are pretty much all curves of some sort. So going through my templates of bass guitars I found that the upper horn of a Precision matches the shape of the upper curve of a tele pickguard almost perfectly....well, close enough for a mutt of tele anyway. So here's a Precision body routing a Tele pickguard:

Finally I did the semi-circular rout for the control cavity cover. This was when things got really really bizarre. I found that I had a milling router bit that was exactly the same diameter (31.75mm) as the curve on the control cover. Weird. Normally everything is just too small, or a tiny bit too large, or just not long enough, or at just not quite the right angle. But this time, spot on. I guess it had to happen once in my building career. No doubt the only time.......Anyway, here's the template in it's final glory:

I'm sure the traditionalists out there are choking on their cornflakes in disgust, but I'm pretty pleased!

I vote leave the wood plain, that's a pretty body. Put a little tru-oil on a piece of scrap, it'll darken up and look nice.

Click to expand...

Bug, believe me I hear you. I've just got a bee in my (very fetching) bonnet about the mineral stain on the top horn. Were it not for that I'm pretty sure I would already be singing Puff the Magic Dragon to my bemused (and already embarassed) 21 month old daughter. Once I had learned the chords clearly. But my eyes would be drawn to that damn stain every time that poor dragon was left behind......

Bug, believe me I hear you. I've just got a bee in my (very fetching) bonnet about the mineral stain on the top horn. Were it not for that I'm pretty sure I would already be singing Puff the Magic Dragon to my bemused (and already embarassed) 21 month old daughter. Once I had learned the chords clearly. But my eyes would be drawn to that damn stain every time that poor dragon was left behind......

Click to expand...

Have you tried wetting the area around the stain or put alcohol on it? And is it from mineral oil? If so you may not even see it under tru oil. If so put some mineral oil on a scrap and try some true oil over it and see what happens.

Have you tried wetting the area around the stain or put alcohol on it? And is it from mineral oil? If so you may not even see it under tru oil. If so put some mineral oil on a scrap and try some true oil over it and see what happens.

Click to expand...

It's a proper stain deep in the wood. I did some tests and tru-oil amplifies it! Hence the semi opaque finish....

I used waterbase grain fill, then General Finishes waterbase sanding sealer till everything was smooth (I checked, honest). I put on two coats of white (GF High Performance with Mixol white pigment mixed in) and all is looking good - if I keep on like this it will probably take 4 or 5 coats to get the level of white opaqueness I want. I now notice though that there are still quite a few open pores over the darker grain. Either my eyesight is poor or the filler/sanding sealer has shunk back.

So my question is, can I put sanding sealer over the top of my (white) colour coat, make sure that is smooth and not shrinking back, then start up doing the white coats again? Or do I have to sand off the white I've already done so the new sanding sealer is being sprayed on top of the old?

I used waterbase grain fill, then General Finishes waterbase sanding sealer till everything was smooth (I checked, honest). I put on two coats of white (GF High Performance with Mixol white pigment mixed in) and all is looking good - if I keep on like this it will probably take 4 or 5 coats to get the level of white opaqueness I want. I now notice though that there are still quite a few open pores over the darker grain. Either my eyesight is poor or the filler/sanding sealer has shunk back.

So my question is, can I put sanding sealer over the top of my (white) colour coat, make sure that is smooth and not shrinking back, then start up doing the white coats again? Or do I have to sand off the white I've already done so the new sanding sealer is being sprayed on top of the old?

Thanks all.

Click to expand...

Timbermate won't shrink, but if you put your coats on too wet it will reactivate or loosen up and flow out of the valleys and somewhere else. I'd sand back, at least a scuff and reapply your filler. Then mist coat the first few coats then start heavier

I've found a headtorch (and all the workshop lights switched off) works really well for the body, I can pretty much see everything as it goes on. The neck though I'm still finding it hard to see what I'm doing, I guess because it's pretty much all curved surface.

Glad to hear you're also using HP. I'm using HVLP so pressures are different, but like you I've found HP to be pretty forgiving - I don't think I've ever had witness lines. I've never done a gloss finish though, satin at most.

Click to expand...

Sorry for the stupidly late reply, only just seen the alert, oops!
I've got quite a few guitars getting prepped for finish, one will be oiled and i think the rest will be done in WB. I want to do a more thorough testing of the Enduro-Var before i commit it to a guitar. I'll need to set aside some proper time to do the finish as i realised that if you leave it too long between spraying coats it dries a bit much and doesn't lay down as cleanly.

I used waterbase grain fill, then General Finishes waterbase sanding sealer till everything was smooth (I checked, honest). I put on two coats of white (GF High Performance with Mixol white pigment mixed in) and all is looking good - if I keep on like this it will probably take 4 or 5 coats to get the level of white opaqueness I want. I now notice though that there are still quite a few open pores over the darker grain. Either my eyesight is poor or the filler/sanding sealer has shunk back.

So my question is, can I put sanding sealer over the top of my (white) colour coat, make sure that is smooth and not shrinking back, then start up doing the white coats again? Or do I have to sand off the white I've already done so the new sanding sealer is being sprayed on top of the old?

Thanks all.

Click to expand...

I still have nearly 5 litres of sanding sealer on my shelf. Used it once, it didnt adhere properly to the top coats (same company and compatible finishes), had to strip the WHOLE things after it was buffed and start again.

My personal experience is, less is more. I usually put a dust coat of shellac to warm the wood and seal it, apply the grain filler, scuff that and then on with the clear coats, If you're adding in tints, id put them in then, and then clear over that. The grain fill can shrink back, but a good few coats of clear and then a level sanding should sort that. I quite like the way guitars look with a very small bit of sinking, makes them look older and cooler

I realise this update has taken a very long time! I haven't had that much time in the workshop recently, and what I have had has been spent making a couple..ok three...workbenches. (Oh and a certain Thinline I'm working on, but that's for another day!) Also, I've had real problems with spraying the finish. I'm using a waterbase polyurethane (General Finishes High Performance) and I just haven't been happy with the process. I applied finish twice, and stripped it off both times. I really need to work on my spraying technique and an almost finished guitar may not be the place...

So, a change of plan. Or actually going to back to my original plan which was an oil based natural finish. So here it is, mid process.....

Now say what you like about tru-oil, but it really does make ash into a beautiful colour!

Never one for the easy option (ie grain filling with epoxy) I thought I'd keep life "simple" and do the slurry technique to fill the grain - ie wet sand with the tru-oil itself. I'm doing one coat a day, with probably another 5 or 10 to go. It's a simple but veeery slow process with ash. Even if a very distant blur, the finish line is at least in sight.....

Sorry managed to get myself sidetracked from building the above, to building the below which I've just finished......
This has got a 24.75" scale. Total weight is 6lb 8oz and the balance is just about ok. I may add a strap extender to the top button pushing it out another centimetre or so. I'm pretty happy with it though!

Hopefully, I'll get back to the Ash/Rosewood once I've done some tidying in the workshop.....